1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable terminal, and more particularly, to a cradling apparatus for positioning a portable terminal at a predetermined angle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a portable terminal refers to an information device such as a cellular phone, a smart phone, a note book, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a tablet Personal Computer (PC), or the like. These devices can now provide, in addition to voice and data functions, various other functions, such as a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) function, a TV watching function, an Internet function, a high-pixel camera photographing function, a moving picture capturing function, etc. In order to provide various functions, the size of a main body of the portable terminal increases, thus making it inconvenient to carry the portable terminal. For this reason, many efforts in miniaturization, lightweightness, and slimness are being made in a multimedia field.
To facilitate user's viewing experience, a portable terminal is equipped with a large-width display device and a cradling apparatus mounted on a bottom surface of a main body of the portable terminal. The cradling apparatus may be manufactured independently for use with the portable terminal, or may be integrated on the main body of the portable terminal.
Examples of cradling apparatuses used in conventional portable terminals are disclosed in Korean Patent Publication Nos. 2010-021392 and 2006-73085 and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0224744. However, the disclosed cradling apparatus used in the portable terminals make it difficult to achieve the slimness of the portable terminals.
As mentioned previously, the miniaturization, lightweightness, and slimness of portable terminals are important factors in improving the portability of the terminals. However, the cradling apparatus typically provided on the bottom surface of the main body of the portable terminal is externally exposed and hinders the slimness of the portable terminal.